


The Other F Word

by USSFriendship



Series: WinterHawk Mandatory Fun Day [1]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Clint is not a dad, M/M, St. Patrick's Day, except when he kinda is, fluffy bullshit, winterhawk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 03:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18203045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/USSFriendship/pseuds/USSFriendship
Summary: Kate went out for her fist grown-up St. Paddy's Day and Clint is not handling it well.For Tumblr Mandatory Fun Day 03/22/19: St. Patrick's DayMany, many thanks to J and the amazing ClintoBarto for the assist and Beta.





	The Other F Word

“Ok, enjoy your shitty green beer. Be careful, and remember: if you need anything or get stuck somewhere or something isn’t right- “  
  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kate cuts him off. “Call you if I get into trouble. Got it. Thanks, DAD. Bye!” With that, she gives him a quick peck on the cheek and is out the door.  
  
Clint leans his forehead against the closed door, closes his eyes, and lets out a long, slow sigh. Kate is a good kid. She is more than capable of taking care of herself, and as her mentor and trainer, Clint knows this better than anyone. Knowing that isn’t really helping him, right now, though. This is new and different and… wait, had she called him “Dad?”  
  
Before he has too much time to think about it, he feels Bucky walk up behind him, strong arms wrapping around his waist to pull him close. Bucky nuzzles against his neck before giving him a soft kiss.  
  
“She’ll be fine, you know, but if you’re really worried about it we can go out and just happen to run into her.”  
  
Clint laughs little before turning around in Bucky’s arms to look at him. What Bucky was offering was huge, he knew, and he appreciated it so much. St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t the sort of thing either of them was even remotely interested in. While Bucky wasn’t anywhere near the broken amnesiac who was terrified of his own shadow that he had been when he first came in from the cold, he wasn’t exactly comfortable with noisy crowds, especially not when they were drunk and rowdy. Clint, for his part, just had absolutely no tolerance for drunks, his father having ruined drinking for him long before he would have been old enough to experience it firsthand. Besides, he trusted Kate. He did. Really. It was the rest of the world he wasn’t sure about.  
  
“No,” Clint kissed him and started to pull away. “No, but thank you for offering. Let’s just stick to our pizza and Netflix plan. You sort out food, I’m going to go change into my jams.”  
  
Bucky tugged him back and kissed him soundly. “You’re lucky I love you, because a grown man calling his pajamas ‘his jams’ is the goofiest shit I’ve ever heard.” The smile he got in return was nothing short of beaming.

“Yeah, I really am.” He shoots Bucky a mock scowl. “And screw, you, Barnes. Jams is awesome hip slang, you just don’t know it because you’re old and out of touch.” He turned away laughing and headed upstairs towards their bedroom.  
  
When he came down, clad in his absolutely ridiculous Winter Soldier jams, Bucky was just hanging up the phone.  
  
“Hey, pizza should be here in half an hour or so,” Bucky held his hand out to Clint, who took it and let himself be led to the couch, “so let’s hold off starting a show, and you can tell me what’s weighing you down.”  
  
Denying anything was wrong was the first thing that came to Clint’s mind, but that thought faded almost as quickly as it came. They’ve been together for four years and know each other entirely too well for that to fly, and it would just make things worse. He settled down on the couch and tucked himself into Bucky’s side to try and buy some time before he sighed and gave in.  
  
“Look, I know how capable she is. I do. I know how good she is, Buck. So very, very good. That’s kinda the problem though, innit? She’s never done anything like this before. Sure, she’s 22, but she’s spent her life up to this point busting her ass at school or practicing cello, or, in the last couple of years, training.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I know what nights like this are about. Some of it is my own shit, sure, I fucking hate drunk assholes and I need to get over it, even if it is kinda justified, but I know there are more fights and more accidents and more…” he gulped, “more date roofied drinks and assaults.” He turned his head to smile weakly up at Bucky, who had started softly stroking his side.  
  
Bucky knew he had to pick his words carefully; this was very thin ice over very deep water, and the last thing he wanted to dismiss Clint’s concern, but he didn’t want to make him worry more, either. “Well,” he started slowly, evenly, “all that is true. But! She is out with a group of people – the Young Avengers, no less! Most of them are some flavor of super powered, even – which is an added layer of protection, and even if it is new to her, she has a good head on her shoulders. You know that. You’ve taught her well.”  
  
“She called me ‘dad’,” Clint offered, not sure if it was a rebuttal or not.  
  
“Yeah,” Bucky snorted a laugh, “but I could hear her eyes roll as she said it, and I think there is a puddle from all the sarcasm that dripped off of it.”  
  
Clint sat up straight and turned himself on the couch, so he was facing Bucky. “Right. I mean, I know absolutely nothing about families. Mine was a clusterfuck from the get go, which is part of why I hate this fuckin’ holiday so much, but I… I don’t know.” Clint was floundering. “Fuck. I don’t know. I don’t want my warnings and shit to just make her more reckless or something. I know I’m not her dad, fuck, me as a dad is a horrible idea, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about her.”  
  
“Ok, Clint, this is, honestly? I have no idea what this is. I do know that she is exactly as used to being stopped at the door and being given warnings as you are at giving them. Sure, it’s been a long time since I’ve dealt with this, but I can remember a couple of times Becca sounding almost exactly like that over the same kinda thing. Her dismissal, your worry - Clint, sure you ain’t her father, but you’ve had her longer than you’ve had me, and you’re the closest thing to a Dad she’s ever had. That’s how she became your apprentice and then your ward, right?”  
  
“Fuck you, Barnes.” Clint replies, but there was no heat to it. It was a dodge, but Bucky wasn’t sure what he was dodging.  
  
“Mmm. Maybe later. You know I’m right. You’re going to sit here and worry until she gets back, and then you are going to hold her hair while she throws up a few hours worth of green beer, and then in the morning you are going to sing loudly and obnoxiously as you make her breakfast.’ Bucky stopped, head tilting towards the door. “Now, pizza’s here. Let’s eat.”  
  
They eventually decided on watching the Umbrella Academy. Clint had heard good things, and it seemed right up Bucky’s ally, and they both knew they were going to be up until Kate got back. They made it through half the show – damn it was good – before they heard the unmistakable sound of a key being scraped along a doorknob.  
  
Bucky grinned at Clint. “You’re up. _Dad_ .”  
  
Clint flipped him the bird as he made his way to the door. He opened it to find an incredibly drunk Kate on the other side, clinging tightly to her friend America but somehow still listing dangerously to the left.  
  
“Heya, Katie-Kate. Have fun?”  
  
Kate opened her mouth to reply, but all that came out was a comically long belch that was followed by uncontrollable giggles.  
  
“Hi, Clint.” America sounded soberish, and vaguely annoyed. “She puked all the way home. She’s your problem now,” she finished, giving Kate an unceremonious shove towards Clint.  
  
“You aren’t staying, too?”  
  
“Nah. Teddy’s waiting for me downstairs in an Uber. Have fun with that,” she nodded towards Kate and turned on her heel and, the only way Clint could describe it, fled down the stairs.  
  
Trying to maneuver a drunk Kate was what he imagined trying to nail jello to a tree would be like, but Bucky saved him by wrapping his arm around her other side and walking her towards her room.  
  
“OH MY GOD, GUYS I HAD” Kate was cut off by her own hiccup, which seemed to surprise her, “rude. I HAD THE BEST TIME HOLY-“ and then she started to retch.  
  
They got her to bathroom just in time. Clint dutifully held her hair away from her face while Bucky went to retrieve a glass of water. They stayed with her until she seemed done, then they walked her to the guest room and helped her take off her shoes and get into bed, still fully clothed and with an old ice cream bucket next to the bed.  
  
As they closed the door to her room Clint looked up at Bucky. “Yes, yes. I know. Spare me the I told you so.”  
  
Bucky just smiled and held his hand out to Clint. “Fine. Let’s go to bed, sweetheart.”


End file.
